Labor is still battling a climate change stalking horse — and now it’s tackling a straw man as well.
Former resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon — who quit the frontbench to continue chest thumping about coal — was seen by some to be bugling for a leadership change. Now new resources spokeswoman Madeleine King is stepping into the ring on behalf of dirty rocks. She says Labor supports the coal sector, and that Australia will keep exporting coal beyond 2050 — as in, the year in which Labor has pledged to reach zero net emissions.
“It is about having a more mature conversation and explaining exactly what this will involve”, she said. “We all want a renewable energy future but it will not, cannot, happen overnight.
“We need to explain that … [and] junk these climate wars. Some arguments have been turned into a sort of a zero-sum game and it all has to be action immediately. And action is urgent. I think that it’s right to say we must act, but you cannot shut down people’s lives either and shut down industries overnight. And we shouldn’t want to do it.”
It is a wicked trick Labor needs to pull. It wants to talk out both sides of its mouth on climate change. It needs to unequivocally endorse concrete goals to reduce emissions because the vast majority of Australians care about climate change. But it also needs to placate those employed by the fossil fuel industry — and the MPs who need their votes.
The best way to quell the cognitive dissonance caused by this split personality is to produce a straw man, an imaginary figure (possibly spotted in Point Piper) who wants to shut down the coal industry “overnight”.
The launch pad for this rhetorical device was former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coalmines. But not even he — heck, not even Extinction Rebellion — is talking about turning off the industry overnight. It’s about an orderly transition, not a revolution.
This imaginary radical who wants to pull the plug on the coal industry immediately is not the only scarecrow in the field. King also took aim at the “climate wars”, as though there are two sides honourably duking it out. It’s a flabbergasting false equivalence, not least because of the latest Australian Academy of Science report that warns of the catastrophic consequences we’re barrelling towards.
While King’s tripping over her own fancy footwork on climate change, there are signs the international mood is shifting. The United States and China (unlikely allies in many ways) have announced an agreement to fight climate change “with the seriousness and urgency that it demands”.
With that sort of international sentiment swirling, Labor should drop the straw man arguments and make hay while the sun shines.
“the vast majority of Australians care about climate change”
If it was that important to them, they wouldnt have voted the coalition in 3 elections in a row.
The ALP implemented a raft of climate policies under the Gillard government, including putting billions into a renewable investment fund and emissions went backwards under the Carbon Tax.
How did this enlightened “vast majority of Australians that care about climate change” thank the ALP?
They repeatedly voted in a mob that takes lumps of coal into parliament, hates wind turbines and has done nothing about climate change since.
You can bash the ALP all you like, but if you want meaningful action on Climate Change, they need to win back government. And, because the Australian public say one thing to pollsters and vote the opposite, the ALP needs to lower its standards and play small target politics.
As the saying goes, the people get the government they deserve. Clearly, we deserve climate-denying morons.
Spot on Grant….the chronic stupid that voted LNP last election is still largely there, secure in the belief that Morrison and his cronies tell the truth.
I just can’t see good government happening until we are up to our necks in crisis. By any objective measure Labour would be ahead 70:30 if the electorate understood major risk and had open minds and honest media.
I think it might take more than major crisis. We’re there already (Black summer, COVID-19, rape in parliament, rife corruption and crony capitalism) and look what we are getting. Overall, men still pick the LNP as winners. Since Michael E. Mann has come out calling climate doom-sayers part of the problem apparently, I am part of the problem. I’m sure Madeleine King can use me and my ilk rhetorically too.
Absolutely agree with you. Labor needs to say and do everything necessary to get rid of the coalition and not be a target for the coalition’s lies.
The average Australian only takes in about headlines (controlled substantially by Murdoch) and focusses on their jobs and finances (the “what’s in it for me”). They don’t look into detail and therefore miss the lies and the subtle things that will impact them.
Morrison has realised this which is why he is always in marketing mode.
Leave it to the Greens to do the hard environment marketing work. Labor can then look like the “sensible” green choice.
Grant Doran, the voice of reason!!!
Some left voters fly into hysterics, the minute the ALP have to tread softly around an issue. They want them to go in all guns blazing, and give the Libs enough political raw meat to keep Sky news frothing for a year.
Can’t they remember franking credits? carbon tax? You think those lessons would be burned into the brain cells forever.
They need to cool their jets, bury differences for a while for the greater good, and remember the removal of the Morrison government is the only game in town that matters right now.
Win the election first, and then adjust sights on issues like climate change.
But win first!!
You’re kidding right! Softly softly is what Shorten tried! And failed. A day out from the election he stood outside a high school talking to mothers instead of campaigning at university campuses around the country with strong, effective climate change policies! Right now, where’s the discussion about social housing, manufacturing, infrastructure. You know, stuff people actually feel strongly about. It’s pathetic what’s going on right now, and Albo and Labor are well on the way to losing the next election!
Spot on.
Chris Bowen was going nutz with Kelly on RN (Monday) talking 20 to the dozen about the need for more jobs in coal.
Shorten’s idiocy of hugging coal in Qld and spruiking EVs to the latte set in th south was missed by many.
Who then voted accordingly.
or even “…was NOT missed by many.”
Bref, i don’t think the last election was lost at the university campuses…it was lost in Northern Queensland, and anywhere “franking credits” suddenly became a burning issue. I believe climate change action is urgent, i believe that a change of government is needed for action to happen, but i am not convinced that the issue itself is a particularly safe hill to plant your flag on, going into this next election. The carbon tax issue helped Abbott to victory in 2013 – that was a straight out opportunity for the aussie voter to make clear their support for the environment, and they resoundingly said no. Now have attitudes changed enough in the time since then? Possibly, but it’s risky. there’s a large chunk of aussie voters whose comfort zone is to vote for no change over change, even if it’s at the very last moment at the polling booth. “Yeah, nah” sums it up pretty damn accurately imo. Give those voters the slightest reason to go “Yeah, nah” and the Coalition will win yet another term…that’d make four, FOUR TIMES the aussie voting public have had the chance to change course and not done it. Who can blame the ALP for being risk averse? Win the election first, implement action on climate change after you’re in, is the way to go…which will mean suffering the ire of those who’d prefer the party being more upfront prior to the election.
Sadly, a combo of the Murdoch Effect and Rudd’s constant undermining of Gillard is what ultimately brought down her government. I doubt Climate Policy even entered the minds of the voters. Just as it didn’t in 2019, when enough deluded voters were conned into believing lies about “Death Taxes”, and an end to Franking Credits for shares those voters didn’t even have, and probably never would.
Grant well written You saved me a lengthy reply to Tory .The ALP has been clobbered 3 elections in a row .The Greens talk a big game but are unlikely to ever poll more than 10%.The only party to form government and be a better prospect for the environment has to be Labor and has been for decades.
Until “Labor” ceases its obduracy and makes an alliance with the Greens it will be the permanent Oppositon – deservedly.
With respect Agni if you believe that the party that gave us the carbon price and ,the Ret ,actually saved the Franklin because it was in government deserves to be in opposition you should give your preferences to the LNP . Try forming a coalition with them !
Those achievements were from when it was a Labor party.
None but the wilfully deluded think it is one now.
As Frank Crean said, no doubt with his worthless son in mind, “The Labor party used to be the cream of the working class – now it is the scum of the middle class.” and that was 40yrs ago.
Your analysis of the bien pissants duplicity is spot on but probably the main reason “Labor” failed in the past is trying to straddle the barbed wire fence, hence the small target strategy that has worked so well since Bumbler Beezleblub tried it with the Rodent.
mainstream party voters don’t vote on one issue, Voting LNP is probably more to do with disliking ALPs other policies than their environment ones. For those who put the environment and climate change no. 1 voting Greens is the only way to make sure it stays on the major parties agendas at all.
If the ALP, the reformist arm of Australian politics fails to condemn carbon entirely, it will itself be condemned by history. Now is the time for the Greens to step forward and take the moral leadership towards zero emissions.
Roger, they have and they do – every day!
The Greens are NOT a party of government. It is easy for them to over-promise and under deliver.
If anyone thinks that re-electing the Morrison government will be better for the environment than Labor, then they need their head examined.
Madeleine King is NOT the Labor Party, and her stupid comments will be ignored (and changed) by most party members!
The ALP cannot afford to lose too many votes-on-principle to the Greens. And they can be a party of government when the ALP cannot govern in its own right. Their recent coalition was able to bring the Carbon Tax into being – which would not have happened under an exclusively ALP government led by Julia Gillard. If similar circumstances arise, Australia’s coal mines might get the chop under a Greens policy.
Roger…the fact remains that the Greens Party averages about 10% of the vote nationally.
That is just ‘the tail waging the dog’ scenario, and I resent the inference that ‘10%’ of ANY voters have the right to set the agenda for policy in this country.
That is NOT a democratic outcome…the current Senate makeup should be enough to show people that!
It is way past time for the federal voting rules and regulations to be changed, so that minorities cannot control the country. As far as the Senate is concerned, ANYONE with a personal vote of less than 5% of the PRIMARY vote should be excluded from election. Think they do something like that in Germany…makes sense to me!!
The Greens are the only party that reflects the majority of Australians’ views on how to tackle global warming.It’s not only anti democratic but obscene that fossil fuel industry leaders in this country – of which the majority are o’seas, tax minimising multinationals – receive $47bn of taxpayer funds per annum, (https://theconversation.com/matt-canavan-says-australia-doesnt-subsidise-the-fossil-fuel-industry-an-expert-says-it-does-1312) especially while the aged care sector is debilitated due to underfunding. It is now apparent that an extra $9-15 bn a year (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/03/australias-aged-care-system-could-require-extra-9bn-per-year-to-adopt-royal-commission-reforms) is needed to upgrade aged care in this nation to an adequate /acceptable standard of service delivery. What kind of mickey mouse organization is running this country?
Any idea as to the ALP loss of 2019 (if what you claim is the case) ?
Dog in the manger, masochistic stupidity?
Just for starters.
While attempting to be all things to everyone, Shorten succeeded in hobbling himself in contradictions even when he wasn’t telling group B the opposite to what he told group A.
Is it okay then that the LNP with something like 17% of the vote get to nominate the Deputy PM , cabinet ministers and regularly steer the coalition into hard right territory such as the opinions of our good friend Barnaby.
There was No carbon tax. There was a worlds Best Practice ETS that worked.
It wasn’t a “Carbon Tax”, though it was misrepresented as one by Shabbott, the mining giants and his media accomplices.
It was a Minerals Resource Rent Tax – a bit unwieldly to describe, never mind sell and administer…
It was not “a Minerals Resource Rent Tax” – that was an entirely different kettle of DoA worms.
It was a carbon pricing mechanism – CPM, mendaciously called a carbob tax as admitted by Abbott’s brain, the Krendlinator.
And don’t even mention Krudd’s CPRS which was a job creation scheme for merchant bankers, tax havens (hence Talcum’s enthusiastic support) and 3rd world autocrats.
Australian politicans of both main stripes have made a deceitful and calculated decision – leave it to the rest of the world to deliver change. By doing so they get to keep voters and are able to say ‘look, it wasn’t us, it was them’. Gutless wonders the lot of them. But, the electorate must share the blame. We’ve been told what’s needed by science. We’ve allowed the fear-mongers (I.e. Cash and Morrison at the last election) to scare us into voting for this deceitful and calculated stance. If Australian pollies had some guts they’d face people with the truth. Coal is dying and will be dead soon. Gas is the same. Fossil fuels are toast and will soon be too expensive to put in your ICE vehicle if you still own one. Your vehicle purchase choices of the future are being made Scandinavians, Chinese, European and American governments, manufacturers and buyers. Time for a ‘Covid-reality-jab’ Australia, listen to climate science, suck it up, transition with national dignity and seek pollies with guts…if such a beast lives on this continent (they do, you just don’t like what they say…)
This nonsense from Labor is infuriating, all driven by the delusion that it is all about politics. FFS, let’s get real. The buyers of coal are clearly saying that they are going to stop buying coal. And the world is saying that energy must be renewable and steel must transition to green furnaces, electric arc or hydrogen. So from where does this ridiculous fantasy that there will a coal industry post 2050? Labor’s pitch must be ‘coal is dying and we must manage that decline’, not try to sell the snake oil that we can both have a coal industry and nett zero emissions.
WTF gives with Labor : that they think we rubes are happy separating our but cheeks with barbed wire fencing too?
“… butt cheeks …” – no buts about it.